


I guess I am a cat

by soupsalad



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Future, Gen, Implied/Referenced Sex, PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT, Self Confidence Issues, THIS STORY IS NOT HORNY IN ANY WAY, also morgana having a thing for ann as per usual, haha devil summoner 2 spoilers, like seriously big spoilers if you have not played it, refeneced haru/akira, thats also referneced so, this is as the kids say very cringe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:01:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24873493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soupsalad/pseuds/soupsalad
Summary: The world is saved, the phantom thieves are no more, the metaverse is gone, and with that being fact, Morgana has had plenty of time to reflect on the past. His time as a thief, as a human in Marukis reality, and to lament to reality before him. Life moves on no matter what.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	I guess I am a cat

**Author's Note:**

> ok so like i recall in persona 4 they said that the raidou series was a movie in the persona world so yeah its a movie here too. if you dont know devil summoner, google is free. but also play it its SOOOO GOOOD. u kids these days with ur persona... I want raidou back. Also dofijsdofij im so sorry for this, morganas life has always struck me as a sad thing, so here. its just. sad to me. PLEASE DONT THINK THIS IS WEIRD I SWEAR ITS NOT ITS JUST. you know

Morgana and Akira return to Tokyo for college and though Maruki, Akechi, and all of the work of the phantom thieves are behind him Morgana can't help but recall the good old days when he didn't have so much time to think.

“Morgana, I need help coming up with a tool for this,” He recalls. “Morgana, we have to talk about your battle strategy,” He would hear on a regular and feeling like a part of something bigger than himself was all he needed.

Akira lets him out of his shoulder bag. Leblanc, Sojiro is glad to have him stay here again, Morgana included.

“There it is.” Akira sing songs playfully, looking at the cat tower Sojiro had left for him. It's blue and white, a little hammock for Morgana to sit in, a little ball of fluff hanging from a higher tower, a little box with a hole to sit in, and a cat-sized tube to crawl through.

“Oh, wow!” Morgana offers. It was pretty well made, it must have cost a lot so he felt inclined to be grateful.

“Nice, isn't it?” Akira says walking around it to check it out closely. Next to it is a water and food bowl, both built to look like little cat heads, across the room a litter box with a few bags sitting by ready for Akira to cut open and get to using.

“Really nice,” Morgana replies and walks over to investigate the water bowl with a heavy heart. He appreciated it for sure but even back at home he had begun feeling conflicted about things like this. “It's cute.” He comments.

Akira flops into bed. “Futaba chose everything, I'm gonna text her now, say cheese.” He holds up his phone and snaps a picture of Morgana who sits politely in front of his new gifts, not sure what to make of his feelings.

* * *

Akira couldn't sleep without the sound of the television. The silence bothered him, and with that in mind, he would leave Morgana in charge of the movie choice.

“Raidou Kuzunoha 2.” Morgana had insisted.

“You watch that all the time, don't you ever get tired of it?”

Morgan shakes his head. “Nope, it's a cinematic masterpiece! Now hurry up and put it in! You need to rest!” He circles Akiras feet until he complies.

Now alone in the dark, he watches.

“Master...I've never told you this before...And I know it's not the greatest time to spill it, but would you mind hearing me out?” Gouto, the main character's cat companion begins and his master Raidou kneels down to listen to him. 

Morgana sits up from his hammock and watches so intently that if Akira were to wake up now he would find himself rather embarrassed.

“Of course,” Raidou tells him, gentle and understanding. The actor playing him is someone Ann had mentioned doing a shoot with. He's an unusually handsome man and Morgana can't help but wonder how close the two of them must be.

“Alright... Sorry about this.” Gouto continues. “Whenever a member of the Kuzunoha clan violates clan law… the sentence is called Gouto-douji.” Morgana knows the movie word for word by now but hearing the lines still get to him every time. He knows exactly where it's going and it still aches.

“My nickname  _ Gouto _ is short for the sentence I'm carrying out...To receive the Gouto-douji means that I surrender my body to live merely as a soul...And that I must live out the sentence as a mentor to the Kuzunoha Devil summoners. As a soul, I can't die. For hundreds of years, all I can do is abide by the sentence of the Gouto-douji.”

Morgana nods along, mouthing the words to himself having heard them so many times.

“It's been difficult... and sad… Watching my successors pass away, one by one. If the true purpose of the sentence is to force me to bear that sadness for eternity...Then it's pretty much the cruelest sentence you can come up with.”

Morgana knows the writers don't think someone like himself is watching, taking comfort in a character like him but he's glad he exists. He watches a little longer before he falls to sleep, wondering if being created was his own Gouto-douji.

* * *

Akira comes home with Ryuji and Morgana gives his usual snide remark of a greeting, but with so many years of friendship between them now, Ryuji knows there's not any malice behind it. He's grown into a fine man.

“Here ya go Morgana, thought of you when I won this earlier from a machine.” He reaches down and puts a cat hat on him. Its a banana and despite Morgana's complaints he doesn't remove it.

“Get this thing off of me!” He yells but Akira and Ryuji are too busy laughing at how cute he is in it.

He remembers that Raidou Kuzunoha mocks Gouto with foxtails sometimes. Waving them around at him until he gives in and plays like a kitty. 

“Ok ok, come here I’ll get it off,” Akira laughs. “C’mere.” He kneels down and frees him finally, his choice of attire entirely in Akiras hands as per usual.

“What? C’mon it's a cat hat dude!” Ryuji insists as Akira hands it back to him.

And as instinctively as always Morgana yells. “I am not a cat!” But then realization dawns on him. “Oh, I guess I am.” It's like a punch to the chest.

* * *

He looks at the new cat bed, unsure of what to say.

It's built like a tent, little white mesh windows on each side, built-in fairy lights, beige padding at the bottom, light green floral print tent, and little white curtains tied back with little ribbons.

“I just saw it and thought it was so adorable, I had to bring it over,” Ann tells him and though he's happy shes thought of him he can't help but resent the little thing in front of him.

“Lady ann…” He decides not to think about it too much, her hearts in the right place. “I love it!” Its a gift from her, he can't be mad.

_ “Albeit kind of infantilizing.” _ But he pushes those thoughts aside.

He was an adult now like the rest of them, this much was true but it never felt like that. An adult cat is very different from an adult person.

* * *

In his dreams, he still thinks about Maruki's reality despite himself. In his dreams nowadays he looks more like Raidou Kuzunoha, the man he had been transformed into back then was no longer relevant.

He doesn't do anything exceptional in his dreams. He goes to the store and buys a pack of cigarettes and watches the sunset with Gouto who he would never turn his back on. He offers him a drag, not treating him differently because he's a cat because he knows deep inside he's much more than that.

“No, I can't,” He will say and Morgana will nod. He won't make a joke. He won't say “Ha yeah, because you're a cat. Of course you can't smoke.” 

In his dreams, he kisses lips and he loves freely. Haru and Akira had made plans to marry after finishing school and he, with all his friends, happily announces his plans to do the same with Ann. They sit side by side, fingers laced together, the ring he had worked months at his job in Leblanc to buy on her finger and no one thinks she's strange for loving him. 

He shares drinks and a good time with his friends and no one thinks it's weird.

In his dreams, he can do much more than kiss and marry. He's a man with desires and wants, he can make children and be a father and live in a nice apartment in the city with his wife, visiting Akira after a long ride from his home to yongen-jaya.

When he wakes up he remembers this is the reality he fought for. It was their right to live the truth even if it hurt, but some days it hurt more than others. He stretches out and heads to the litter box, checking to see if Akira is awake to be sure he doesn't see him.

* * *

When he gets sick he doesn't mention it. He has to put on a brave face to avoid the fearful future he had seen on the internet a night back in Akiras home town.

  
  


“A rectal thermometer would be most appropriate for a cat.” The video was rather informative the first time he had fallen under the weather like this.

“Akira…” He had called out, too ill to even stand on his own, watching Akira's eyes water as the video plays, all the required parts the woman on screen had said he needed for an examination. 

“D-don't worry,” Akira insists. But Morgana couldn't help it from the way the other was weeping, thermometer in one hand, and vaseline on the table in front of him. Akira wanted to do this less than he wanted to die.

He was powerless Akira approached, the digital thermometer covered in jelly and beeping to show it was calibrated.

“We don't have to do that, we’ll figure it out another way.” Morgana had insisted weakly. Akira had thankfully relented. Both of them knew this was the fate awaiting them at a vet as well, so neither of them do anything, just wait for him to get well and hope he's alright.

Morgana knows even humans go through things like this as they get older, its a standard medical procedure and first and foremost for his benefit despite the humiliation. He's not angry with Akira and he does not trust him any less. Examinations and procedures of this kind were just a fact of reality for them both in one way or another. Still, he wouldn't go marching towards it if it could be helped.

_“It's been difficult... and sad… Watching my successors pass away, one by one. If the true purpose of the sentence is to force me to bear that sadness for eternity...Then it's pretty much the cruelest sentence you can come up with.”_ Morgana remembers Gouto saying. There was the way he and Gouto were different. How long would he live? How old was he now? Cats don't live as long as humans. When would he reach the point that he is old and dying? He does not know. Somehow the life of a normal cat feels crueler than eternity. 

Nowadays he doesn't mention being ill at all and watches his health above all else. He hides in the cat tower and hopes Akira is too busy to take notice of his lethargy. 

* * *

  
Akira comes home after a long night of drinking, that was how college students got apparently, and despite how he loved Akira he didn't like this version of him.  
  


"Get off of me!" Morgana complains but Akira scoops him up in his arms and snuggles him like the housepet he is.

"Aw you're so cute," He slurs and spins on his heel to walk over to the bed. "Oh-" He falls over, squishing Morgana under him but quickly rolling over to avoid any lasting damage.

"Akira!" Morgana complains running for the safety of his tower, fur puffed up and hissing.

"Sorry." He sing-songs like always, like he's talking to an animal and not a man. He passes out and doesn't make it to his bed. 

Morgana just sighs and curls up to get some rest.

* * *

Akira has his first child years down the line, the heir to Okumura foods, and Morgana is stuck helplessly yearning for a life of his own that isn't chicken flavored treats and cozy blankets and playing baby sitter in the years to come.

"We named him Zoro," Akira tells him and his heart skips with joy.

"You're my best friend, Morgana, It was the least I could do," Akira tells him.

He wishes he could do more. Give him human arms to hold the one named after his inner self, just once he wants to hold something but he knows that he cannot.

This is the reality he chose, he can't look back now. He licks the child on the cheek. He can be there for them at least.


End file.
